November 7, 2018
Daesh Weapons Found in Qayyara (DD Nov 7)
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
Iraq
More food & weapons smugglers arrested in northern Salahuddin. [..]
Large military operation under way to clear Baiji-to-Haditha desert area. [..]
Daesh terrorist cell dismantled in Samarra. [..]
One-week toll in Hawija: 11 PMFs dead from 16 Daesh IEDs. [..]
One week toll in Daquq: IFP kills 15 Daesh terrorists, arrests 4 smugglers. [..]
Tribal PMFs destroy 12 Daesh tunnels south of Shura. [..]
Badoush mass grave holds 30 killed by Daesh, including 2014 election candidates. [..]
Syria
News site reports SDF ranks in Deir Ez-Zor weakened by diversion to northern Syria. [..]
Media source says Tal Abyad is first Turkish target east of Euphrates. [..]
Former opposition leader found tortured, dead in Daraa, after arrest by Syrian military. [..]
REPORTS FROM IRAQ
NATIONAL NEWS
New government
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi stated on Wednesday that 5 independent ministers have been selected from an online system, by a vote from members of the CoR. [Rudaw]
A representative of the Al-Fath coalition reported to Basnews that PM Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi insisted on appointing Falih Al-Fayyad as Minister of Interior despite Sa’irun’s pressure against it. [Basnews]
Anti-Daesh campaign
An official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party visited Mosul on Wednesday to say that Daesh had returned to Mosul in groups and had already carried out terrorist operations, and that the media is not reporting them. Mosul residents fear that Daesh has become “more dangerous than before” according to the official. [Shafaaq]
DaeshDaily comment. We’re not sure this criticism applies to Daesh Daily. However, if you read this bombastic statement as a reflection of the ever-present political status issue, you would be correct.
The Independent reported on November 1 that Daesh militants desperate to flee the organization and fund their travels have begun to demand thousands of US dollars for the release of Yazidi women, sometimes directly contacting their families. [BaghdadToday] [Independent]
A security source stated that the Iraqi-Syrian border is secure and watched by thermal cameras and that Daesh in Syria is about 5 km (3 miles) away from Iraqi units. The Iraqi Army is deployed along the borders but has no orders to enter Syrian territory. The source says the withdrawal of SDF forces from some areas is worrisome. [Ghad]
Foreign policy
A terrorism tracking observatory based in Egypt reported that 34 terror operations took place last week targeting 13 countries, leaving 226 people killed. The Taliban, Daesh, and Al-Qaeda are planning to revive their activities in the Middle East, Indian peninsula, and Africa. The report said that Iraq is Daesh’s first priority. The states targeted this past week with the most terror operations were, in order from most to least: Afghanistan, India, Iraq and Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Libya, and finally Russia, Mali and Egypt. [Baghdadia]
Chancellor Angela Merkel invited Iraqi PM Adel Abd Ul-Mahdi to visit Germany. She stated that her country would support Iraq, especially in the fields of economic development and security. [Sumaria]
BAGHDAD
North (Tarmiya, Taji, etc.)
Daesh said on Wednesday it targeted the house of a tribal PMF member in Tarmiya District north of the city, causing damage. [ICDNNov7]
ANBAR
Falluja
Military Intelligence stated that its units operating under the 14th army division found a Daesh ammunition and explosives warehouse in Falluja containing 95 IEDs. The contents of the storehouse were safely destroyed. [Ghad]
East Anbar Ops Command arrested a terrorist and seized 60 mortars, a grenade launcher, two 82mm mortar rounds, 6 IEDs, and 4 grenades among other weapons, in Matari. [Ghad]
Rutba
A military source on Wednesday reported that a prominent Daesh military leader was killed by a US airstrike in Rutba. [BaghdadToday]
SALAHUDDIN
Shirqat
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that during the last week security units captured 11 persons who were smuggling weapons and food supplies to Daesh members in the Makhoul Mountains area.
A DaeshDaily source said Wednesday that “many” Daesh terrorists have established a base on Makhoul Mountain. Some of the terrorists have just arrived from eastern Syria, and they have large quantities of weapons in addition vehicles and motorcycles. The source said the terrorists also have “continuous” logistical support from surrounding areas.
Daesh has also deployed terrorists along the rivers reaching out to areas south of Mosul, northern Hawija, and areas in northern Salahuddin.
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that Salahuddin Ops Command units found a Daesh hideout and 3 pickup vehicles in an underground tunnel near Ain Sadid village.
Baiji
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that Salahuddin Ops Command and PMF units killed “many” Daesh terrorists and destroyed several tunnels and hideouts in a large-scale military operation to clear desert areas between Baiji and Haditha. The source said that Jazeera Ops Command units started a similar operation from the Haditha Lake area at the other end of this expanse.
Samarra
The Center for Security Information announced on Wednesday that Samarra Ops Command and Salahuddin intelligence forces dismantled a “dangerous terror network” consisting of 6 suspects, inside the city. [Sumaria]
The Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that detachments of the IFP arrested a “terrorist” in Samarra who belonged to the so-called “Division of Jalam in the state of Salahuddin.” [Sumaria] [Baghdadia]
DIYALA
No reports
KIRKUK
Hawija (Riyadh, Al-Zab, etc.)
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that 11 PMF members were killed and 7 vehicles destroyed in 16 IED explosions during the last week in the Hawija area.
Southwest (Daquq)
The Center for Security Information on Wednesday reported that an IFP detachment arrested a Daesh fighter who had been involved in kidnapping and killing a policeman in Tal Khadija village in Rashad. [IKH] [Sumaria]
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that IFP units killed 15 Daesh fighters and captured 4 smugglers in several operations south of Rashad last week.
NINEWA
Mosul city
On Wednesday, the Center for Security Information announced that the Ninewa Police had arrested 2 Daesh members in west Mosul. [Forat] [Ghad]
Mosul District
South (Hammam Al-Alil/Shura/Qayara)
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that tribal PMF units destroyed 12 Daesh tunnels and found weapons and explosives south of Shura.
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that PMF units found large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, including hundreds of hand grenades, in the house of a Daesh member in the Qayara area.
West (Hamidat/Muhalabiya)
An army source says a joint army and police force found a mass grave of Daesh victims in Badoush, containing over 30 bodies, including candidates in the 2014 elections who were executed by Daesh at the time. [Rudaw]
Western Ninewa
Tal Afar
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that around 40 Daesh terrorists have returned from the Al-Hawl Camp for refugees and other areas in Hasaka province in Syria and are hiding now in the mountains near Abu Mariya village.
Southern Ninewa
Hatra
A DaeshDaily source said on Wednesday that Iraqi units, supported by Coalition planes, continued their military operation to clear the desert near Hatra. The source said they advanced 45 km (27 miles) in the desert and killed 18 terrorists so far.
Baaj
On Wednesday, the Ninewa government announced that 235 families returned to their homes in Baaj. [PressIraq]
SOUTHERN IRAQ
Basra
On Wednesday the police directorate in Basra announced that emergency police units arrested a terror suspect wanted in an arrest warrant issued in Baghdad. [Sumaria]
KURDISTAN NEWS
No reports
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READER COMMENTS
You are invited to add information to or comment on any Daesh Daily story, about Iraq or other countries
REPORTS FROM TURKEY
Political developments
The US Special Envoy for Syria, James Jeffery, stated on Wednesday that the US did not view the Kurdish units in Syria as a terrorist organization like the PKK in southeast Turkey. He stated that the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria is not a terrorist organization. However, the State Department also stated on Tuesday that it was not supporting YPG units and did not view them as a part of the forces countering Daesh. [Basnews]
DaeshDaily comment. These statements attempt a deft distinction between the PKK, designated by the US as a terrorist organization, and the SDF. This interpretation is precisely what President Erdogan refuses to recognize. The YPG and the PYD political party it supports are (by general acknowledgement) affiliated with the PKK. Few doubt that PKK members are among the ranks of the YPG. The SDF is set up as a combined Arab and Kurdish force, but its core units have been YPG. By treating the SDF as a plausibly independent force, the US acquired a military partner that would help eliminate Daesh in Syria. Erdogan, however, is not into deft distinctions, and has pursued his personal political interests by treating all political enemies as terrorists.
REPORTS FROM SYRIA
NATIONAL NEWS
Anti-Daesh campaign
Al-Khobar news site reported on Wednesday that the “collapse” of the SDF ranks east of the Euphrates coincided with Turkish military preparations in north Syria. The site reported that 130 SDF soldiers who were under the command of the YPG fled their posts after hearing that 3 regiments received orders to reinforce north Syria. A source told the site that the SDF fighters who fled had been following after the 3 regiments, and that military patrols were searching for them. [Eldorar]
Northwest
Afrin
On Wednesday, six people died and another was wounded in a land mine explosion on a dirt road in Afrin Province. Two of the victims were local citizens, and the 4 other who died were soldiers with Failaq Al-Rahman. [Basnews]
Northeast
Hasaka
On Wednesday, the Turkish army announced that it had “neutralized” a YPG fighter who shot into Turkey from across the border in Ras Al-Ayn. [Qasioun]
DaeshDaily comment. Notice that the Turks have had no problem ordering its soldiers to shoot into Syria to kill people in Ras Al-Ayn.
Raqqa
North Raqqa (Ayn Eissa, Tal Abyad, etc.)
A media report says Tal Abyad is Turkey’s first target in the east of the Euphrates. [EnabBaladi]
On Wednesday morning, Turkish soldiers killed YPG militia fighters with machine gun fire and wounded others in Hasaka on the Syria-Turkey border near Tal Abyad. [Eldorar]
Central and West
No reports
East (Deir Ez-Zor)
No reports
South
Daraa/Quneitra
On Wednesday morning, residents of Da’el, north of Daraa, found the body of a former opposition leader, Ghanim Hamdi Al-Jamous, on the outskirts of the city, with signs of torture. Local media report that he had been arrested by Syrian Air Force Intelligence only hours before. [Qasioun] [EnabBaladi]
OTHER MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA REPORTS
Neighboring countries
Saudi Arabia/Yemen
US Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, met with the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir to discuss cooperating in counter–terrorism measures on Wednesday. He had been scheduled to discuss similar topics in Bahrain on Wednesday and Thursday. [Anadolu]
Bahrain
On Monday, the State Department released a report that Ambassador Sales would visit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia November 5-6 and Manama, Bahrain November 7-8 to discuss coordinating to counter Iran’s support of terrorism in the region, and obstructing terrorists from travel. Voice of America reported on Tuesday that Bahraini officials use terrorism accusations mainly as a tool to silence political dissidents. [State] [VoA]
North Africa
Egypt
On Wednesday, the military court in Ismailia issued sentenced 42 people accused of being involved with Daesh in the Sinai: 8 received death penalties; 32 received life sentences; 2 received 15-year sentences. 2 were found not guilty. [AhlMisr] [Shafaaq]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed or wounded Egyptian Army members with an IED near the Kharafan security barrier, south of Rafah. Daesh said the army was dredging land in the area. [A3maq]
Daesh said on Wednesday it killed an Egyptian soldier and wounded another with an IED in the isolated area between the Al-Sayyah security barrier and the port of Rafah. [A3maq]
REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
EUROPE
France
On Wednesday, the French security apparatus arrested 7 people including a young Syrian citizen in the city of Le Mans, according to the BFM TV channel. Investigators believe that the group was planning an attack. [Qasioun]
Russia
In a press conference on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Minister warned that the fight against terrorism is not over and that Al-Qaeda and Daesh may unite their forces, as reported by Russia’s Federal Security Service. [Sumaria] [AMN]
ASIA
Afghanistan
Daesh said on Wednesday it damaged an Afghan Army vehicle with an IED in the Mazrin area in Nazyan District, Nangarhar. [A3maq]
